Nigel writes.....Bob I got the 2005 Muscadet Sèvre-et-Maine Sur Lie, Château l'Oiselinière de la Ramée, (Chéreau-Carré)in my last order from the Wine Society here in the UK and the first bottle was delicious.

Just opened the `05 Oiseliniere Grand Fief, the nose is very closed up, maybe open tomorrow as half bottle left. Delicious however with good creamy weight.I was amazed a while back to see on cellar-tracker that the `96 was still drinking very well. Hard to imagine, wish I had the stamina to wait ten years to see how this `05 will turn out!!

Yup, even more hooked on Muscadet!! This wine was consumed with herbed garlic shrimp in lemon parsley butter. $26 Cdn, good natural cork, 12% alc.It is hard to keep track of the Chereau-Carre family out there in the Loire, who has a family tree?!!

Color. Pale hue, light straw, oh so clear.

Nose. This was pretty closed up, but managed to find some citrus lime fruit, minerals, "wet stones" from across the table". Apple on day 2.

Palate. Initial mouthfeel entry was dryish, not too austere a style, good weight, creamy. There was a nice structure to this wine, fresh and vibrant. Fellow tasters wondered about "enough acidity?" and I wonder too. I am generally used to more saline character.Tad riper on day 2, best to serve at cellar temperature I think. Nice wine here.

Nigel Groundwater wrote:Bob I got the 2005 Muscadet Sèvre-et-Maine Sur Lie, Château l'Oiselinière de la Ramée, (Chéreau-Carré)in my last order from the Wine Society here in the UK and the first bottle was delicious.

Not quite as delicious as the 2005 Eric Morgat, Savennières, L'Enclos, 2005 bought in the same order but was much less expensive at £8.25 [the 06 is also available at £7.95]. The Savennières was £13.95 but has just been increased to £16.50 due to the shrinkage of the £ versus the Euro.

Guy Brossard's Domaine de L'Ecu and Pierre Luneau-Papin's wines are my other favourite Muscadets but the l'Oiselinière is another superb QPR and IMO right up there.

Nigel, have just seen the `07 Ramee on the shelf downtown. Have you had a chance to taste?Am stocking up on some Perraud after an in-store tasting. Not a name well-known out there yet I believe?

I was gifted the Pierre Luneau-Papin Muscadet Sèvre et Maine sur lie Excelsior 2002 when in London. Sadly it was corked when opened with great expectations.

That is a crying shame, Bob. I had the '02 Clos des Noëlles "Excelsior" (is there a Semper there? I can't recall) back in Feb and it was a brilliant wine, precise and rich at the same time. If you've had the '05 Ollivier Granite de Clisson, it's a similar sensation, if from a more aged perspective.

Bob, I had a change to go to a Loire tasting way back in October in Boston. There were some ‘06’s but most of them were 07 and 08. The nice thing about these wines (which were all sub $35,…expect for the Quartes Des Charmes) were the nervous acidity that were present in most and for the Muscadets, a nice typical saltiness. There were a lot of wines (100+) so please forgive my shorter notes (posting on Muscadet only but there were many Loire wines that I tried that day)

Many Loire-heads (and others) will know the name Luneau-Papin so imagine my delight when I heard that Metrovino in Calgary was carrying the `07 vintage. "I will pick some up on my next visit city" I told the store.

Well-soaked cork, $18 Cdn, 12% alc, sur-lie.

Color. Medium straw, no green.

Nose. Starts out tad reticent but as it warms opens nicely. Sea-shells, minerally and hint of citrus. Unmistakable, wonder about the VV and the d`Or and wonder if we will ever see in Alberta?

FWIW, the pronunciation is "Meuhs-kah-DAY", with the first syllable pronounced as in "music". I've checked this with several Frenchmen/women. And I agree that it is definitely one of the world's most under appreciated and least known wines.

Hooked but scratching my head after a rather non-descript effort from Ferraud, Domaine de la Vinconniere. Mind you, his previous offerings did not impress me too much either.

Laurent-Perraud Granite de Clisson 2006 was cellared for 2 yrs. 12.5%alc, cost was around $22 Cdn. Good natural cork, opened for an hour. Color was a light gold, first sign of trouble eh.Nose started to come around somewhat after an hour but was a real mish mash of the usual aromatics one thinks of with Muscadet. Rather bland on the palate with few moments of excitement! Have to wonder about an off-bottle here, cannot get it right all the time I guess."Think we should have opened a Luneau-Papin" from across the table, my in-house PO!

Bob Parsons Alberta. wrote:Hooked but scratching my head after a rather non-descript effort from Ferraud, Domaine de la Vinconniere. Mind you, his previous offerings did not impress me too much either.

Laurent-Perraud Granite de Clisson 2006 was cellared for 2 yrs. 12.5%alc, cost was around $22 Cdn. Good natural cork, opened for an hour. Color was a light gold, first sign of trouble eh.Nose started to come around somewhat after an hour but was a real mish mash of the usual aromatics one thinks of with Muscadet. Rather bland on the palate with few moments of excitement! Have to wonder about an off-bottle here, cannot get it right all the time I guess."Think we should have opened a Luneau-Papin" from across the table, my in-house PO!

Not a producer I'm familiar with, Bob, but you can't fault the vineyard. '06 wasn't my favorite year, either, but the Usual Suspects did all right in it. Coincidentally, we just finished a bottle of the '09 Luneau-Papin Pierre de la Grange, which I liked considerably better than I did at the Dressner tasting in March.

Last night I opened the `01 Domaine du Haut Bourg Cotes de Grandlieu Muscadet. 7 yrs on the lees, cheap at $22 eh.The color was amazing, a light straw, terrific aromatics and singing along nicely on the palate with a very firm finish still. Aged Muscadet does not get better than this!

Bob Parsons Alberta. wrote:Thanks Mark, found the `09 L-P in Calgary last month.

Last night I opened the `01 Domaine du Haut Bourg Cotes de Grandlieu Muscadet. 7 yrs on the lees, cheap at $22 eh.The color was amazing, a light straw, terrific aromatics and singing along nicely on the palate with a very firm finish still. Aged Muscadet does not get better than this!

Tim York wrote:I'm very envious, Bob. I don't know where to find mature Muscadet like that over here.

Rahsaan told me of a shop in London with a good collection of older Muscadet, which he backed up with a bottle of '97 Luneau-Papin Le L d'Or in 2006. If he reads this, perhaps he can recall the name of the shop.

Tim York wrote:I'm very envious, Bob. I don't know where to find mature Muscadet like that over here.

Rahsaan told me of a shop in London with a good collection of older Muscadet, which he backed up with a bottle of '97 Luneau-Papin Le L d'Or in 2006. If he reads this, perhaps he can recall the name of the shop.

Mark Lipton

RSJ (http://www.rsj.uk.com/rsjretailintro.htm). As it happens, I was in London last week and tried to buy some wine from them but the guy who manages the retail end (it's a restaurant) was on holiday so I had to look elsewhere.

Redwinger wrote:A local shop just received a shipment of 2005 Domaine du Millaud Muscadet. I had never heard of this producer until I sampled a bit of this wine with the "importer" in August. I thought it to be a worthy competitor with Pepiere which is not distributed locally. Hopefully the sample bottle is represenative of the entire lot. Probably not widely distributed, so this post will be of little benefit to most. ~ $10 (US)BP

Winger, I just happen to have some entry level Pepiere in the basement. If we can find opportunity to meet up, I will bring a bottle for you to compare.